Low-Temperature 3-D Printing of Conductive Hydrogel-Based Soft Sensors for Quantitative Strain and Load Monitoring

A conductive hydrogel sensing material and its corresponding soft strain sensor were successfully fabricated by integrating low-temperature 3D printing technology with in situ reduction of silver particles on the surface of a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel matrix reinforced with sodium lignosulfonate (LS) and sodium alginate (SA). The PVA–LS–SA hydrogel matrix prepared via low-temperature 3D printing possessed stable mechanical strength and controllable structural morphology. After being condu